Friday, December 30, 2011

Barry Clayton, the man behind the spoken-word introduction to "The Number of
the Beast", the title track of IRON MAIDEN's classic 1982 album, has died at
the age of 80.

During the recording sessions for "The Number Of The
Beast", the band reportedly asked the famous horror film actor Vincent Price
to read the intro text to the title song. However, according to MAIDEN
singer Bruce Dickinson, Price refused to do it for anything less than
£25,000. The bandmembers then heard of someone who read ghost stories at
Capital Radio and got him to do it instead. The man was Clayton, who had no
interest in MAIDEN, but obliged when he was asked to put on a Vincent Price
kind of voice.

According to the Islington Tribune, Clayton was a resident
of Islington, which is in Greater London, England, for 40 years. He
was a pioneer of black television and radio programming. He produced the
"Black Londoners" radio program for the BBC — the first black daily radio
program — from its first airing in 1974 until 1988 when he left to join
Capital Radio.

Clayton's deep, booming voice is forever etched in the
minds of IRON MAIDEN fans, thanks to the way he spoke those famous, ominous
words that start "The Number Of The Beast":

"Woe to You Oh Earth and
SeaFor the Devil sends the beast with wrathBecause he knows the time is
shortLet him who have understandingReckon the number of the beastFor
it is a human numberIts number is six hundred and sixty six."

After the overwhelming reviews of
their first record "...To The Pit" and many crazy live-shows (i.a. WACKEN OPEN
AIR 2011) THE PROPHECY²³ announce their second record "GREEN MACHINE LASER
BEAM". It will be produced by Kristian "Kohle" Kohlmannslehner in the
Kohlekeller Studios in January and February 2012.

He already worked on
chart-breaker like Crematory and Powerwolf. The second record of THE PROPHECY²³
will be released by MASSACRE RECORDS in spring/summer 2012.

The cover artwork
was again drawn by Marvin Clifford (MAD Magazine, etc.).

Rock Hard
(9 ud af 10): “The debut of the year 2010....MALRUN leaves its scent marks
between modern metal and alternative rock”

Metalnews.de (6½ ud af 7): “It is not really possible to fit the
album into any specific category and that is exactly what makes it so
interesting”

Terroverlag.de (9 ud af 10): “On top of it all Jacob is a
Super-Singer... Jackpot!”

Metal.de
(7 ud af 10): “a convincing show that does not stand back for compeditors on
an international level”

Aardschock
magazine (85 ud af 100): “Metal of the future. Malrun is the new promise of
Denmark. An album full of fat, melodic guitar riffs, great vocals and damn
catchy choruses”

Live tour
anmeldelse, Metal-impressions.de: “Joy of playing! Harmony on stage, a great
band and an outstanding singer! Their music, a blend of modern metal, hard rock
and alternative suited the audience. Created not so typical Danish, but rather
American, the sound was refreshing. The band played confidently through the set
and brought the audience in the right mood. Class!!”

Finland’s Myon brings the danger and adrenaline back in to
rock, with their new single and video
“Call Of The Senses”.

“The song is a story about extreme adrenaline search, so we needed a video
that really shows all about what experiencing the extremes can be” – says the
band’s leader Mika Pohjola. The video features
Hustler´s cover model Kimberly Knox, a.k.a.
Veera Julia Ikkala, who is also building a career as a
singer.

She has also directed the video. “When I heard “Call Of The Senses” for the
first time and was asked to act in the video, my decision was an immediate
”YES!” This is because, personally the song touches me deeply and for me it is
easy to relate to adrenaline seeking behaviour. To me life has always been about
the extremes. Truly feeling each moment and following my instincts, for better
and worse. I started to then build a clear picture in my mind about how to bring
this across to our viewers and ended up directing the video myself, for I had a
distinct vision that I wished to show the audience: Living life to the extreme…
Really feeling the adrenaline and life to the maximum in certain moments. Be it
for good or bad. Evidently such lifestyle takes its toll, in a way or another.
To some it can be worth it, to some it is not. But my point was not to moralize
or judge, ONLY to show what such moments and lifestyle of extremes may be.” Says
Kimberly Knox about the theme of the video.

Tragically on 18th of December 2011, Niko Vainikainen, who can be seen in
some scenes in the video died in as extreme way as he lived. We want to respect
his memory with this video as well. For he truly was a person of extremes and
lived his life to the fullest, following the call of his senses.

“Call Of The Senses” Single and Video, will be released
digitally 01.01.2012

The new single “Call Of The Senses” Proves once again, that
Myon is taking music to the new direction and brings rock back
to the new era 2012.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Frames of Alienation", debut album from italian thrasher metallers Madmaze, will
be released on January 15, via Punishment 18 Records. Artwork has been created
by popular american artist Ed Repka who previously worked for Death, Defiance,
Atheist, Massacre, Megadeth, Toxik, Nuclear Assault, Vio-Lence, Municipal Waste
and many more.

Heavy metal group LORD VOLTURE from the
Netherlands present a new music video as a Christmas treat to
their fans to show their heart-felt appreciation of the positive feedback they
so kindly received from different parts of the world last year. It is a video
for the HEARTS OF STEEL song from their first album
BEAST OF THUNDER.

LET’S UNITE IN ROCK was written by HENRIK
FLYMAN (Evil Masquerade) to the benefit of METAL FOR
CANCER. Please go to www.metalforcancer.com and buy a copy
of the song. It’s for a very good cause and all income is donated to the
AUSTRALIAN CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION.

Metal For Cancer is an idea put together by Richard Ofsoski where carefully
selected quality Heavy Metal and hard rock artists contribute music for digital
download to help raise funds for the fight against cancer.

All proceeds go to ACRF (Australian Cancer Research Foundation) and approved
by them www.acrf.com.au

Sunday, December 25, 2011

House of Metal is a two day indoor festival dedicated to various kinds of metal. The festival premiered at Umeå Folkets Hus in February 2007.

The festival has a capacity of 2700 visitors per night and enforces an age limit of 13. There are also various bar areas where the age limit is 18.

HoM has three stages and a coverband-stage and every year app. 25 bands, Swedish and international, crowd these stages. The festival also spots a market area selling CDs and candy etc and during daytime there are free guitar and drum clinics.

The goal is to become the best metal festival in Sweden and that goal is not too far off. Exceptional acts have visited the festival over the years, among others Lamb of God, Behemoth, Meshuggah, Soilwork, Satyricon, Pain, Nocturnal Rites, Entombed, Opeth, Samael, just to mention a few.

The festival is blessed with fantastic reviews by both media and visitors, visitors not only native to Sweden but arriving from all over the world.

Please see the "tickets" area for more information on how to buy your ticket for the festival.

You can travel to Umeå by flight, train or bus, or drive your own car. There are numerous hotels to choose from in the city. Please check the forum for advice on cheap living or co-travelling from other cities and countries.

1992 seemed like the worst possible year to be a traditional, melodic hard-rock debutante. Still, Swiss band Gotthard were an instant and tremendous success. From their second album ”Dial hard” (1994) and onwards, all their records hit the #1-spot – all in all eleven (!) of them. After over a million albums sold domestically, it was obviously time to look abroad, including memorable appearances at SRF. Everything was brought to an abrupt and tragic halt in October 2010, when singer Steve Lee died in a traffic accident. The support of their fans and the blessing of Steve’s parents encouraged the surviving members to continue. After auditioning a multitude of candidates, Nic Maeder has been chosen to take Gotthard into the future. A new album will be released this spring, and SRF 2012 represents a cherished reunion for band and fans alike – the new Gotthard’s first appearance on Swedish soil.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Greek
modern atmospheric metallers SCAR OF THE SUN have been confirmed for the
"Metal Firestorm 2012" European Tour alongside RAGE (headliners),
TYR and COMMUNIC!

"METAL FIRESTORM 2012"

RAGE / TÝR / COMMUNIC /
SCAR OF THE SUN

23.03.12 Fri DE Speyer @
Halle 101

24.03.12 Sat DE Andernach @
JUZ

25.03.12 Sun DE Braunschweig @
Meier Music Hall

27.03.12 Tue DE Hamburg @
Markthalle

28.03.12 Wed DE Nürnberg @
Hirsch

29.03.12 Thu DE Bochum @
Zeche

30.03.12 Fri DE Aschaffenburg
@ Colos-Saal

31.03.12 Sat DE Mauerstetten @
Sonnenhof

01.04.12 Sun CH Pratteln @
Z7

02.04.12 Mon IT Milan @ Bitte
Club

03.04.12 Tue FR Montpellier @
Secret Place

05.04.12 Thu ES Madrid @ Sala
Caracol

06.04.12 Fri ES Valencia @
Sala Rock City

07.04.12 Sat ES Pamplona @
Sala Totem

Regarding the tour, SCAR OF THE SUN commented on their official
website: "Needless to say that we are all thrilled by the news and we're really
looking forward to get on the road! The band feels the need to deeply thank
Jörg Düsedau from Dragon Productions for getting us on this tour.
Merry Christmas everybody, happy new year and see you all on the road! P.S.
Don't forget that the band will be the direct support on the forthcoming
FIREWIND concert in Athens, Greece on the 14th of January 2012! See you
there too!"

The German masters of the macabre are back with a
new full-length album, entitled "Rostrot". It follows their successful album
"Schlangensonne" and entertains both EISREGEN fans and those who like to play
the upholder of moral standards with its scathing, black humoristic acoustic
horror stories.

So you can imagine that you didn't have to ask them twice
to celebrate their new album with an excessive record release tour!

LEPROUS, the super active prog metal newcomer-sensations from Norway are nowhere
near to be taking a real rest from promoting their current album
“Bilateral”.

After a highly successful first half of the European tour with
Amorphis, LEPROUS just recently toured in Japan together with Ihsahn and The
Haunted.

The band has checked in with the following comment while
briefly being at home, before leaving for the final run of dates with
Amorphis, starting December 26th, in Jena / Germany::

"We've just
come home from one of the best adventures in the LEPROUS career so far! It
was absolutely amazing to get the chance to play in all those great European
countries once again, not to mention our unbelievable trip to Japan! Thank
you so much everyone, we're speechless!

We can't wait to go out on tour
again with Amorphis, and this time also with The Man-Eating Tree. The first
leg of the tour was perfect and left us hungering for more. Therefore we are
extremely happy about hitting the road again very soon! No better way to
celebrate Christmas and New Year than on the road with LEPROUS! See you
soon!"After being supported by the Spanish band Nahemah in first
part of the tour, the second part will see The Man-Eating Tree from Finland as
the opening act.Here are all the remaining dates of the trip that sees
LEPROUS doing a total of 41 shows in 21 countries:Amorphis + LEPROUS + The Man-Eating Tree–
European Tour 2011/ 2012:MON 26.12.2011 (Germany) JENA -
F-HausTUE 27.12.2011 (Germany) BOCHUM - Zeche * Sold Out!WED 28.12.2011
(Germany) OSNABRÜCK - Hyde ParkTHU 29.12.2011 (Germany) HANNOVER -
CapitolFRI 30.12.2011 (Germany) KARLSRUHE - SubstageSAT 31.12.2011
(Switzerland) PRATTELN - Z7TUE 03.01.2012 (Germany) SAARBRÜCKEN -
GarageWED 04.01.2012 (Germany) NÜRNBERG - HirschTHU 05.01.2012 (Austria)
SALZBURG - RockhouseFRI 06.01.2012 (Austria) GRAZ - ExplosivSAT
07.01.2012 (Slovakia) BRATISLAVA - Majestic Music ClubSUN 08.01.2012
(Hungary) BUDAPEST - Club 202TUE 10.01.2012 (Austria) VIENNA - SzeneWED
11.01.2012 (Czech Republic) PRAGUE - Retro Music Hall (New venue!)THU
12.01.2012 (Germany) ASCHAFFENBURG - Colos-SaalFRI 13.01.2012 (The
Netherlands) EINDHOVEN - Dynamo ClubSAT 14.01.2012 (Belgium) VOSSELAAR -
BiebobSUN 15.01.2012 (The Netherlands) HENGELO - Metropool

Brazilian power progressive metallers
SupreMa proudly present their brand new video “Nightmare” for one of the songs
from the upcoming debut album “Traumatic Scenes”. It’s the first video in the
band’s history and it is inspired by the works of famous Belgian artist René
Magritte.

“Traumatic Scenes” is a conceptual album. Following
this story, the fans will travel between the real and supernatural world passing
through various phases of the human mind life. At the moment the band is
finalizing the production of the CD in Barulho Estudio, São
Paulo.

Also, this week SupreMa confirmed the new drummer,
Rafael Rosa (ex-Andre Matos, Ancestral), the replacement of Helmut Quacken who
worked at the drum parts for “Traumatic Scenes”. According to the guitarist
Douglas Jen: “Rafael Rosa is the most full-fledged drummer that I have ever
played with! Besides his incredible talent, he is a very well organized and
dedicated person. Rafael recorded drums for the famous album of Andre Matos band
"Time to be Free". Since the very first rehearsals with him everything has been
calm and clear, and simply fantastic. Our chemistry appeared with the first
cords and I’m totally sure that he will surprise all our fans in the forthcoming
tour that will start in February 2012!”

The band was established
in the beginning of 2004 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. That same year the musicians
released the debut EP “Spyeyes”. Since then Suprema has gathered a legion of
fans in its home country, has got a lot of attention of special media and shared
the stage with such renowned bands as Primal Fear, Blaze Bayley (ex-Iron
Maiden), Andre Matos, Krisiun, Korzus and Americans Phantom Rockers among
others. The consolidation of the band's career came in 2008 with an extensive
tour of North and Northeast of Brazil. At the end of 2010 the musicians started
working at the material for their debut full-length.

“Traumatic Scenes” is
planned to be released in the first half of 2012. The cover artwork and track
list will be revealed soon.

"JOLLY is going to be one of the most
revered progressive rock bands of our time"-Prog ArchivesJOLLY are celebrating the season with a special
holiday treat for their fans. The band has recorded a cover of the holiday
classic "The Christmas Song" (commonly referred to as "Chestnuts Roasting On An
Open Fire") - the video can be viewed on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIiBY_r_7IE

'Tis the
season for happiness, and you can do your part by giving the gift of "The Audio
Guide To Happiness (Part 1)" this year. Check out the band's merch store for
special holiday deals and discounts.

The band's debut album on
InsideOut Music is one of the most acclaimed progressive rock releases of 2011,
lauded by Decibel Magazine as "...having the chops to send almost any musician
back to proverbial school." JOLLY will continue to share their "Audio Guide" on
the road in 2012, and the band plan on releasing "The Audio Guide to Happiness
(Part 2)" in fall.

Last Sunday the guys
from Sabaton treated the fans in a packed Trix Arena to an early Xmas present:
the Swedes confirmed their presence at GMM2012 next summer in support of their
new album. Click here to
view the official announcement.

Australian melodic power metal band Black Majesty have been
announced as part of the 2012 Masters of Rock Czech Republic festival. This will
be Black Majesty’s only Czech Republic show during their 2012 European tour
where they will be promoting their new album (produced by Roland Grapow –
Masterplan) due for release in May 2012 through Limb Music Germany. Other acts
already confirmed for the M.O.R. 2012 festival include Thin Lizzy, Stratovarius,
Edguy, Gothard, Kamelot, Arch Enemy, Within Temptation, Firewind, Unisonic and
Arakain amongst many others.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Not only thrash metal has its ”Big Four”. The same goes for the grunge scene of the early 90’s. Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains rewrote the rules for the entire rock business and temporarily made Seattle the new rock capital of the world. Soundgarden were the first of the four to reach a wider audience, earning a Grammy nomination already for their debut ”Ultramega OK”. The bands second album, Led Zeppelinesque ”Louder than love” was followed by the Black Sabbath-influenced ”Badmotorfinger” (1991) and ”Superunknown” (1994) – two of the most important and successful hard rock releases of the 90’s. Songs like ”Rusty cage”, ”Black hole sun”, ”Spoonman” and ”Jesus Christ pose” are distinguished by inventiveness, odd time signatures and the intense singing of Chris Cornell. Obviously there was great enthusiasm in 2010, when the mythical band declared the reunion of it’s classic line-up: Chris Cornell (vocals, guitar), Kim Thayil (guitar), Ben Shepherd (bass) and Matt Cameron (drums). Not only is there a new album in the making, in 2012 Soundgarden are coming to Sweden Rock Festival! This is the band’s first Swedish concert since 1996 and also their only one in Sweden this summer. Definitely one of the rock’n’roll highlights of the year!

We got few good news for all PATHFINDER fans and believers on the end of this year...

All compositions for 2nd album, the next chapter of "Beyond The Space, Beyond The Time" are finished!! Last full of work 4 days we spent in studio recording the drums... and here is the next news:)

When Kamil Ruth left Pathfinder at the beginning of this year his place was taken by Kacper Stachowiak as "live drummer". Many of you had a chance to meet him during our concerts. After great cooperation on the stage/tours and amazing understanding on musical and personal level we are very proud to officialy welcome Kacper in our team! So all snare blasts and all crazy bass drum tempos on the 2nd album will be his!! :) And believe us! His sound will be perfect and mighty!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

After a
highly successful run of European festivals and select club shows, Swedish
melodic metal maestros SOILWORK have started writing music for the follow-up to
“The Panic Broadcast”, which debuted the US Billboard charts at #88 upon its
release in July 2010.

Commented
vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid: “It's been an intense summer and at this point, me
and the boys are hibernating in pretty much every corner of the world and
putting our next album together. Many songs are yet to be written but the
inspiration is flowing! People can expect a continuation of the intensity and
presence of The Panic Broadcast, only taken to a higher level. That's the
mindset. We will do some touring next year as well, before hopefully entering
the studio sometime in the early fall. The album title is already set: "The
Living Infinite". Chew on that for a bit and don't spit it out until the music
is invading your ears, folks! Until then, make sure you follow the songwriting
process and other news on Soilwork's official Facebook
page and website. You can also follow Speed
on Twitter. Have a very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year, and thank you all for your continuous
support!"

About Indie
RecordingsIndie Recordings is a Norwegian record label focusing on hard rock
and metal that started out in 2005. They mainly work with Norwegian bands, but
talent knows no borders so they`re open to ALL good music. Indie Recordings
started off as a small side project to Indie Distribution, as they felt the urge
to work closer with bands than what they could do as a distributor only. Indie
Recordings has grown from releasing relatively unknown acts to signing and
developing bands like Kvelertak, Satyricon, Enslaved, Keep Of Kalessin,
Audrey Horne, Shining, Djerv + +. Having the opportunity to work with such
fine musicians for the last years has been a great inspiration to them, and has
motivated them to put all their efforts into creating a label they are very
proud of. Every day they stay true to the cause: bringing out to the fans their
favorite rock and metal music!

The Indie label focus
program is supported by the Norwegian Embassy in Bern and Music Export
Norway.

Dunderbeist is releasing their new
album, “Black Arts & Crooked Tails”, the 10th of February in Europe and the
14th of February in North America. “Black Arts & Crooked Tails” consists of
10 hard and heavy cut-the-crap tracks and it shows the whole spectra in what
this band manage to pull off and show off as their own brand of Norwegian Metal
with a bucket of rock in it.

Epica's upcoming 5th
full-length album which will be released on the 9th of March 2012 by Nuclear
Blast

„The work is done!
Recordings, mixes and mastering are finished. Although you have to wait some
more to know how it sounds, we can already show you how it looks! So here it is:
the official coverart (by Stephan Heilemann) and tracklisting of Epica's new
album Requiem for the Indifferent."

„This
title refers to the end of an era. Mankind can no longer stick their head in the
sand for the things that are happening around us. We are facing many challenges.
There is an enormous tension between different religions and cultures, wars,
natural disasters and a huge financial crisis, which is getting out of control.
More than ever we will need each other to overcome these problems. As we are all
connected; the universe, earth, nature, animals and human beings, this period in
time will be the prelude to the end for those who still don't want to, or simply
won't see it. A REQUIEM FOR THE INDIFFERENT but also a possibility for a new
beginning with great new chances!“

Epica will present this
album to the public on the 16th of March 2012, in 013, Tilburg (NL) tickets
are still available but are going out fast! Be sure to get your tickets in
time HERE

Keep an eye on the
official Epica website and social media for regular updates on REQUIEM FOR THE
INDIFFERENT!!

ORIGIN -
One of the most intense and technical forces of the contemporary
death metal world, ORIGIN, have returned to stake their claim as the leaders of
metal’s new wave of extremity with their fifth studio effort entitled Entity. As expected, ORIGIN continue to
churn out frantic hell paced grids of metal torment, but now further compliment
the arrangements with a new found propensity for churning grooves and the hook
laden approach that first reared its ugly, but accessible head on the bands 2007
offering, Antithesis.

Joining the frantic torment for a long overdue return to Europe will be PSYCROPTIC,whose latest opus 'The Inherited Repression' is set to be released worldwide in
Feb 2012. Staying clear of trends, PSYCROPTIC incorporate many different
elements of musical genres – extreme and otherwise - to capture a sound that is
uniquely their own: a precise blend of brutality, intensity and groove.

Rounding out the trio is the deadly grinding bang of LENGT TCH’E.
Styled by themselves as razorgrind, the four maniacs that make up LENG TCH’E are
determined to shred all before them. With two more acts to be announced, this
tour looks set to crush its way around Europe
and prove to be one of the most devastating runs of the
year.

ORIGIN with PSYCROPTIC and LENG TCH’E (plus two more acts TBA)
PERFORMING AT: